The Palatka daily news. (Palatka, Fla.) 1884-1888, 1887-05-22

your hand ON minea Or am I to put JIMMY
down among the expensesfn he added with
grin and slight lifting of his baleful eye
ill.,
When they had ridden a mile along the
ridge they began to descend again toward tho
valley. Vegetation now sparingly bor,iere,l
the trail, clumps of chemisal, an occasional
manzanita bush and one or two dwarfe,l
"bucleyes' rooted their way between the
interstices of the black gray rock. Now ami
then, in crossing some dry gully, worn by the
overflow of winter torrents from above the
grayish rock gloom was relieved by dull red
and brown masses of color, and almost every
ovorhs nesing rock bore the mark of a miner
pick. Presently they rounded the curv-
ing flank of tho mountain from a rocky
bench below them, n thin ghost-Iike stream
of smoke seemed to be steadily drawn by in
visible hands into the invisible ether. 1T Is
the camp" said Concho, gleefully; II will
myself forward to prepare them for the stran-
ger" and before his companion could detain
him he had disappeared at a sharp canter
around the curve O the trail
Left to himself, the stranger took a more
leisurely pace, which left him ample time for
reflection. Scamp as he was, there was some
thing in the simple crctlulity of poor Concho
that made him uneasy. Not that bis moral
consciousness was touched, but he feared that
Conchos companions might, knowing Con-
cho's simplicity, instantly suspect him of trad
ing upon it. He rode ON in a deep study
Was he reviewing his past lifea vagabond
by birth and education, n swindler by profess
sion, an outcast by reputation, without ALSO
lyrtp
he had trenbled ON the perilous edge of GRIM
inshty ever since his boyhood He did not
scruplc to cheat these Mexicans-they were a
degraded racs-and for rlsnient he felt al
n,cst an accredited agent of progress and civ
nization. We never really understand the
meaning Of enlightenment until we begin to
use 1t aggressively.
a few PAGES further ON four figures ap-
peared in the now gathering darkness of tho
trail The stranger quickly recognized tho
bealning smile of Concho, foremost of the
party. A quick glance ut the faces of the
others satisfied him that while they lacked
Concho's cool humor. they certainly did not
surpass Linn in intellect. Pedro was a stout
vaquero. Manuel WIS a sim LaIf-br and
e,--ccnyc ri Of the Mission of San Carmel, and
Migucl a recent butcher of Monterey.
Un,lcr the bCai.n influences of Concho that
suspicion with which the ignorant regard
stT-sl. 'ers dicd away, and the whole party es-
cUrtesl thu st -yIn-cr-vho had given his name
as Mr. Joseph Wilcs-to their camp fire So
anxious were they 10 b, gin their experiments
that even the instincts of hospitality were
forgotten, AMI i. wi.s not until Mr. wiles-
now knovya rs Don yoso'F-sharply reminded
them that he wantcd some grub" that they
cai;,e to- tn senses. When the frugal meal
of tortiilr', fri iole', salt pork, and chocolate
was over, oven was built of the dark red
rock brodsht from the ledge before them, and
an ea.thCnware jar, glazed by some peculiar
iocll process, tightly fitted over it, and packed
with clly AMI soils. y fire speedily built
of pine boUShs continually brought from a
wooded ravInc below, and in few
moments tho furnace was in full blast
Mr.. Wiics did not participate in these
active preparations, except to give oc-
casonal directions between his teeth which
Were conteInplativeiy fixed over a clay pipe
as he liy comfortably on his back on the
ground. Whatever enjoyment the rascal
may have had in their useless labors he did
not show it, but it observed that his left
eye often followed the broad figure of the ex-
vaquero, Pedro, and often lwelt on that wor-
thy's beetling brows and half savage face
Meeting that balcful glance onos, Pedro
growlc,i out am oath, but could not resist a
hhieous fascination that caused him again
and again to seek it.
The scenc was weird enough without Wiles'
eye to add to its wild ficturesqueness. The
mountain lowered above-a heavy Rem
brandtish mass of black shadow-sharply cut
here and there against n sky SO inconceivably
remote that the world-sick soul must have
despaired Of ever reaching 50 far or of climb
ing its steel-blue walls The stars were large
keen and brilliant, hut cold and steadfast.
They did not dance nor twinkle in their ada
inantine setting. The furnace fire painted
the faces of the men AN Indian red, glanced
ON brightly colorcd blanket and serape, but
was eventually caught and absorbed in the
waiting shadows of the black mountain,
scarcely twenty feet from the furnace door,
The low, half-su-iS, half-whispered foreign
speech of the group, the roaring OF the fur
mace and the quick, sharp yelp Of the coyote
ON the plain below were the only sounds that
broke the awful silence Of the hills
IL was almost dawn when it was announced
that the ore had fused And il was high
time. for the pot was slowly sinking into the
fast csunblinS oven Concho uttered jubi-
hams God and Liberty but Don Jous wis
ha4le Inn y si1eue 81 hsing slnh~ 00R
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